He plays a homeless man called Laces in the latest episode of the long-running crime drama series

Kendrick Lamar has made his TV acting debut with a small role in the US show Power – watch two clips of his brief role below.

The Compton rapper made his bow in the latest episode of Power, which is currently in its fifth season. The show is co-produced by 50 Cent, who also has an acting role in the series.

Last night’s episode – which aired in the US on the network Starz – saw Lamar playing a homeless man called Laces. His character is first seen going up to 50 Cent’s character Kanan Stark and attempting to sell him some gift cards.

Later in the episode, Kanan is shown pulling a gun on Laces – although he soon changes his mind and gives Laces the gun (without any of its bullets) for him to sell.

“It took a long time for people to embrace us – people outside of our community, our culture – to see this not just as vocal lyrics, but to see that this is really pain, this is really hurt, this is really true stories of our lives on wax,” the rapper said.